Dungeon of Pride, Laplace

Inside the camp, corpses of the orcs could be seen being moved around by the adventurers and their weapons collected in a corner.

The place was completely devastated by the impact of the battle. The orc army that occupied this place was defeated and their commander killed by Xandros.

On the other hand, there were only a few injuries on the side of the adventurers, one could even say that it was their overwhelming victory. However, the man who led his group towards it, Xanfrso himself didn't seem particularly happy or excited over it.

After throwing the head of the orc commander that he took with his own sword, Xandros walked towards the centre of the camp which bore the signs of a fierce battle.

"Vice Guild Master... we have finished rummaging through the place, there are no other survivors here. We have also called a team of adventurers to bring several carts with them to take the bodies of the orcs back. With this many, we are sure to earn some good profits if we sell them to the merchants".

The assassin who was busy collecting the corpses of the orcs, approached him and reported. Every part of the body of an orc was extremely useful, their skin was used to process leather armours, bones and blood to create potions, eyes and gallbladders to create medicine and so on and so forth.

If sold to an alchemist, the money they would earn would easily cover the costs to rebuild the town. The assassin smiled thinking that it was not a wasted trip to come out of the dungeon after all.

However, when he saw that their Vice guild leader was out of sorts, he couldn't help but ask.

"Is something the matter vice guild leader?".

"What do you make out of the battle from the destruction that occurred here" Xandros pointed out in front of him. A large portion of the camp that was previously covered by a wall of fire was decimated to the point where it seemed like a barren land filled with desolation and death.

"Seems like there was a fierce battle that occurred here. From what I can tell, some incredibly powerful skills were used to cause this level of destruction" the assassin muttered.

"Right, so what do you think? Can you defeat them if you were to come across one of them?" Xandros asked, looking at his face one cannot tell what he was thinking.

"Well, I cannot really say without using [Analysis] but it would be pretty much impossible for me to fight either of them if they are capable of using such powerful skills" The Assassin smiled bitterly.

Xandros nodded, he could tell that the beings that fought here, were powerful enough to even warrant his question. Just when he was about to delve deeper into his trains of thought, a subordinate belonging to his guild, came reporting.

"Vice guild master, I have scouted around the area as you have ordered. There is something that you must see". Xandros commanded a portion of his group to stay here while he took a small team with him and followed the subordinate.

After some time, they appeared in front of the pond or what seemed to be a pond was now just a dried-up hole in the ground. Given how incredibly heated the ground was and signs of moisture still lingering around the place, one could tell that an enormous battle had occurred here.

"Vice Guild master… there" the subordinate pointed at the body that was at the bottom of the hole.

Xandros and his team descended onto the hole and approached the body only to realise that it was badly scorched.

"Isn't this one of the Diluvian High Orcs?" the assassin observed the body and said. Even if the body was badly scorched given the frame of the corpse, it perfectly matched with the monsters they had just defeated.

"Look at this vice guild master, it's a stab wound" the assassin pointed at the head of the orc.

"Hmm? So this is the orc that person—no, that maid was fighting?" Xandros muttered. He could see that the orc lying on the ground was different from the other Diluvain High Orcs. Given how big and intimidating its body was, there was no doubt that this orc was higher in rank than the one he had fought.

"Is there anything else? Any clues about the person that defeated it?" Xandros asked, if possible he wanted to meet with that maid that killed this orc and saved the captive humans.

However, it seems that they have already left the scene. After searching the place for any more clues, the group of adventurers joined with the team that was at the camp and went back to the town.

Today's matter cannot be said to be completely solved since they have to find the reason why the orcs marched all the way here when they should be living far deeper inside the forest.

------

On top of a distant mountain at the borders of the eastern region of the forest, four people could be seen siting around a campfire. The light from the campfire fell on their faces and illuminated their surroundings.

The group of four were none other than Simon and the Valkyries.

"Un, it's cooked enough.. give it a try," Simon said taking a skewer out from the campfire.

Currently, their group had stopped on a mountaintop for a break as they waited for the early rays of the sun to break out. Meanwhile, Simon had decided to use this time to recover his depleted MP and HP to its peak.

Since just around and doing nothing was boring, he lighted a campfire and used the monster meat they hunted to make a barbeque of sorts. For the maids, this was the first time they were having an adventure like that, they enjoyed every moment and were thrilled to start a campfire.

"Unn~ It's delicious master" Alice who was the first to try a bite said.

"I'm glad you liked it. Since you people are always the ones to cook us a meal, let me treat you this time. Ah here's butter, smear it on top and try it, it will enhance the taste" Simon bought butter from the [Shop] and passed it to the Valkyries.

"Master, in that case, we won't be shy" Annette and Bianca tried the meat skewers too. Their eyes when they felt the crunchy, spicy and the rich taste the meat brought to their taste buds, their eyes shined just like stars.

The Valkyries might be set to be more competent and skilful in cooking than him but this was a rare chance for them to try his cooking.

"Hehe, I cannot wait to see big sister Bea's envious face when I tell master had cooked for us after we return back" Alice laughed with a devious face.

Looking at her mischievous side, Annette smiled helplessly and turned her gaze towards her master who was busy grilling the meat.

"Master… what are you planning to do now?".

"Hmm…" Simon was silent for a while before looking towards the distant western direction of the forest.

"The orc general that came here was on orders from the Orc King. They seemed to have discovered my dungeon and are scheming something. There is no way this attack would be the last attack on the tower town and it wouldn't stop even if I killed one of their Orc generals".

"If we don't resolve this matter before it blows out of hand, our dungeon will be affected severely. In the worst-case scenario, the town will be deserted by the humans. Therefore, I must address the root of the problem and put a permanent stop to this" Simon stated clenching his hands into a fist.

"I see… this is why we did not return to the dungeon immediately and instead came here"…

"Then nom nom… is master planning to wipe out the orcs?" Annette and Alice asked, one could even feel the enthusiasm to go to battle once again from them. The fight earlier wasn't even an appetizer for them.

"If need be then—yes" A deep crimson glow flashed inside Simon's eyes "But before that, there is a certain individual I want to meet. If all goes well, we might be able to further improve the defence of our dungeon".

------

Deep inside the Diluvian High Orcs territory, located in the western region of the forest was a vast underground space dozens of kilometres big. The space inside was lit up by the magma deposit that sometimes came out from the small geysers on the ground.

A strong sulfuric smell lingered around this place. At the centre of the underground space, there was a huge carcass of some entity who in its prime might have been hundreds of meters big.

The carcass surrounded an altar in the middle and on top of which rested a throne. The throne was made from the similar bones as the carcass around it and was emitting a dreary aura.

Seated on that throne, was a crimson orc so huge that, even the big Diluvian high Orcs might feel small in front of him.

"So are telling me that you want to one-sidedly terminate this partnership?" Belgarios the King of the Diluvian High Orcs said in a heavy gruffy voice.

"Haha, the orc king misunderstands, all I'm suggesting is that we put our business on hold for a while. You see our kingdom is currently entangled in an issue and cannot do business with you for a while".

A person covering his figure from head to toe with a black robe and a mask said.